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While out for a lunchtime stroll in the early 1970's I stopped by the chess tables near Yonge St. Joe was working the crowd to get a speed chess game for $2. I accepted and won. He immediately accused me of cheating because I must be a ... (ready for this) club player! Of course he was right (I played at the SCC) but I always wondered why he thought this was cheating!
He was quite a character.
Would you class square-jawed Gavriel "Finito Master" as Joe's natural
successor? Same playing habits (different attire and openings though:-),
but same accusations / angry responses to losses, same all-nighters!
The witching hours are his most lucrative, he once told me he makes
over $150 nightly rooking the *(race deleted) taxi-drivers who're too
sweaty and reeking of their 'passengers' cheap perfume, to go home
to their wives! Daytime takings $70-80, hey not bad! Still on C & Q....
On the plus side, he gets at least 2-3 clocks from Strategy every year!
Would you class square-jawed Gavriel "Finito Master" as Joe's natural
successor? Same playing habits (different attire and openings though:-),
but same accusations / angry responses to losses, same all-nighters!
The witching hours are his most lucrative, he once told me he makes
over $150 nightly rooking the *(race deleted) taxi-drivers who're too
sweaty and reeking of their 'passengers' cheap perfume, to go home
to their wives! Daytime takings $70-80, hey not bad! Still on C & Q....
On the plus side, he gets at least 2-3 clocks from Strategy every year!
A Google search produces no concrete hits, Francis, so he's still a long way from Joe's fame. Making a lot more money than Joe ever did, however, if those monetary numbers are true (personally, I'm extremely sceptical). For the believers out there, you might want to try your own 'luck' at Church & Queen (:
A Google search produces no concrete hits, Francis, so he's still a long way from Joe's fame. Making a lot more money than Joe ever did, however, if those monetary numbers are true (personally, I'm extremely sceptical). For the believers out there, you might want to try your own 'luck' at Church & Queen (:
I must have had the same disbelieving look when he ran me those
numbers ($150 is a small fortune for that milieu!), and the FM goes,
"Yah, I need to buy your clocks, so!" My clocks??
They're a cute bunch nevertheless, from the disapproving sing-song
"Touchie-movie, touchie-movie!" character to Erwin's phantom young
Russian beauty! Quite a few turn up at Strategy to buy the odd piece,
set or even a clock, and invariably challenge me to a one-on-one! Why??
You would know better than I, Eric, but perhaps you're shortchanging Josef a tad. I would think him at least expert status and Hans Jung would seem to concur, judging from his post 2 years ago.
Kevin Spraggett's blog has an interesting piece on Joe Smolij - king of the chess hustlers in Toronto in the 70's and 80's. He sure was an interesting character.
I found a 1957 rating for Joe of 1891 which, with inflation, would be over 2000 today. His high was probably 1932 in 1971, then it dropped. So he was an expert, but you can't get to be a master only beating patzers; It requires a different style of play. The top park players today (Gabriel, even Leslie, Josef and Ian, etc) are rated stronger than Joe was. But not as captivating to watch.
Hmmmm, I would love to play someone like him in a time scramble over the board. So far, Haizhou's the only one who's even remotely fast enough to flag me :D
If you ever find yourself in Boston, Bindi, you might want to check out Harvard Square and lock horns with IM Marc Esserman, who likes to frequent this venue and hang with some of the usual suspects there, including Billy "The Magician" Collins.
Marc sometimes plays games in Harvard Squre with 12 seconds on his clock versus 10 minutes for his opponent, but you have to start the game 4 moves into the Morra Gambit with Black to move. He's probably the world's foremost expert on this opening, which I believe you yourself think borderline unsound, judging from our casual Hart House conversation.
Naturally, he wouldn't stand a chance at those time controls against a player of your calibre, but it might be an interesting game with say, 5 minutes versus 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure that you'd soon ascertain that the opening is nowhere near as unsound as you might think. Marc has beaten many a strong GM with this very opening.
I believe the coach who showed Marc the Morra was IM Calvin Blocker, an interesting character in his own right who rather fits right in with the theme of this thread. Apparently Calvin used to hustle himself in Greenvich Village at one time.
You sure do interesting research Jack. If we had half a dozen like you this board would become addicting! I am sorry to read about Calvin Blocker's hard times. We shared a room at a World Open and after he made a point of visiting me "up in Canada". One evening at the tournament he snuck into the ballroom of the hotel and gave us a treat on the baby grand. Boy he sure could play! and he could just spin those chess moves and the variations would be gripping - much more than the best chess book! He had a knack for strange tactics. During one game where he was Black against a legendary grandmaster I asked him: "Are you holding?" - and his quick reply, no surprise was: "What d'you mean? Im playing to win!" I was looking around for some of his beautiful games but so far, no luck. Calvin is a real character.
Jude's turning 70 this year! Major milestone and I wish him many happy returns! 1977 - so 37 years doing what he does - a record that may never be broken! Wonder how long he can keep going - I wish him another 30 years -but who knows??? - definitely one of a kind!
Jude's turning 70 this year! Major milestone and I wish him many happy returns! 1977 - so 37 years doing what he does - a record that may never be broken! Wonder how long he can keep going - I wish him another 30 years -but who knows??? - definitely one of a kind!
I think you might appreciate this link, Hans, to Jude's "World Chess Table". You can also check out the vintage (1960's) video footage of Jude as a young man (:
At the chess park at Church and Queen, there is a seasoned combat veteran chess player named "Chicago" The Toronto Sun featured an article about Chicago and the chess park in 2005. Chicago once suggested to me that the park should be renamed "Chicago Park" or "Chicago Church Park" Because I had allot of fun playing chess with Chicago in the park, I would defintely support the chess park being renamed "Chicago Park" or "Chicago Church Park"
P.S If the Toronto Sun does a follow up article with Chicago in 2015. Should the headline of the article read Chicago ten years later?
Last edited by Bill Thornton; Sunday, 17th August, 2014, 10:02 PM.
If you ever find yourself in Boston, Bindi, you might want to check out Harvard Square and lock horns with IM Marc Esserman, who likes to frequent this venue and hang with some of the usual suspects there, including Billy "The Magician" Collins.
Marc sometimes plays games in Harvard Squre with 12 seconds on his clock versus 10 minutes for his opponent, but you have to start the game 4 moves into the Morra Gambit with Black to move. He's probably the world's foremost expert on this opening, which I believe you yourself think borderline unsound, judging from our casual Hart House conversation.
Naturally, he wouldn't stand a chance at those time controls against a player of your calibre, but it might be an interesting game with say, 5 minutes versus 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure that you'd soon ascertain that the opening is nowhere near as unsound as you might think. Marc has beaten many a strong GM with this very opening.
I believe the coach who showed Marc the Morra was IM Calvin Blocker, an interesting character in his own right who rather fits right in with the theme of this thread. Apparently Calvin used to hustle himself in Greenvich Village at one time.
Marc sometimes plays games in Harvard Squre with 12 seconds on his clock versus 10 minutes for his opponent, but you have to start the game 4 moves into the Morra Gambit with Black to move. He's probably the world's foremost expert on this opening, which I believe you yourself think borderline unsound, judging from our casual Hart House conversation.
Which 4 moves does he want? Some positions, regardless of how many available lines or moves can still be made, are lost. In the same manner tic-tac-toe is a draw unless there's an error.
I think someone made reference to your prowess of the Blackmar Diemer Gambit. Here it is in a nutshell for those who wonder at some of the theory.
Some of us CC players played team play under the name The Gambiteers Guild and there's a web site, still online, for it so I was a bit surprised to see that name being used elsewhere. In any case, the site is well done.
Re: Re : Re: Re : Chess Park at Church & Queen
12 seconds? That seems incredible, unless Marc insists on opponents resigning in a lost position rather than playing on to mate and almost certainly causing him to flag.
PS maybe I'm underestimating how many moves per second a blitz expert can make on a physical board. Anyone have any ideas?
Last edited by Ken Kurkowski; Sunday, 24th August, 2014, 02:55 PM.
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